As the federal government closes down today—including vast portions of the agencies that help study and protect our ocean—the impacts are quickly being felt far beyond just the federal employees that are being sent home.

Non-government scientists, academics, state and local officials, and even schoolchildren who rely on ocean data provided by the government will find that many of the websites that deliver this valuable information have now been taken down.

Lacking the employees, tech support and funding to maintain the government’s websites, only the sites that convey information necessary to protect life and property will be maintained during the shutdown.

Far beyond just impacting federal employees, the shutdown is cutting off everyone’s access to important ocean data and information. This hurts folks from our nation’s top ocean scientists in universities who need that data to do critical research all the way down to a first-grader who might use NOAA’s websites and educational materials to write a report on dolphins or sea otters.